Hornets don't like vibration, so if you drive by the hive with the riding mower, or happen by with the weed whacker, it will disturb the hive.

This hive consists of a queen and 200-400 infertile, winged females, brood keepers, male drones and many reproductive females.

The inside of the hive is made up of three or four tiers of what looks like a regular honey-combed bee's nest, surrounded by this paper shell.

The paper is made from chewed wood pulp mixed with bee saliva. It is a very strong structure.

These bees eat caterpillars and aphids, and collect pollen and nectar like other bees to add carbohydrates to their diet. The bald-faced hornet thrives throughout North America.

These nests are built every year! This is left over from last year and is not occupied. You can see the hole where birds went in to harvest what was left by the colony when they abandoned it last fall.

You will see them every spring. They have white faces, and black bodies with white abdomens. THEY ARE VERY AGGRESSIVE!THEY STING MORE THAN ONCE! They will attack if something comes within a few feet of the nest.

My recommendation: if you see one of these in the winter you might as well remove them. They are not occupied. And next summer bees will not move back in. But having located your house once, they will come back year after year unless the hive is eliminated and you prevent a new one from being built.

Comments

Oh yes...I recognize this nest. Years ago, we had a huge one on our house. I will never forget it. It was so ugly and scary and I remember my dad trying to figure out how to get rid of it. Yuck indeed.

They are called White Face Hornets here in CT. This is funny because I ren into a hornets nest the other day myself. The homeowner had two nest he collected in his garage.

Posted by James Quarello, Connecticut Home Inspector (JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC) about 6 years ago

I did not realize that they established their hive year after year. I figured once they were gone they were gone. Thanks for the warning, I have one at the peak of my house some 35 feet up. I can reach it with a stick from my son's attic window and will do so as soon as the weather breaks.

Posted by Suesan Jenifer Therriault, "Inspecting every purchase as if it were my own". (JTHIS-Professional Home Inspection Team) about 6 years ago

Good morning Jay,

iIteresting Post. Is there a way to PREVENT these hornets from building on your property?

Jay -- we have seen similar things locally, though ours was build by yellow wasps -- it was almost soccer ball size and wa in a Rhododendron next to the front door. Not a good place to have a wasp's nest. This looks like it was on the ground.

Like Jim said---in the NE we called these white faced hornets and they are indeed an unfriendly bunch---have tried to "socialize" with them on a few occasions. I have since decided they are not worth the effort :) When I first moved to the West coast I thought the yellow wasp nests common here were hornet nests.

Jay that looks scary. Being stung by a bee once loooooong time ago. Not a nice feeling. The things home inspector sees during inspection huh Jay?LOL. Have a great weekend.

Posted by Lanre-"THE REAL ESTATE FARMER" Folayan, I don't make promises.I deliver results.SOLD HOMES (Keller Williams Select Realtors-Buy a home in Washington DC. Sell a home in Washington DC) about 6 years ago

Mike - they are worried about those killer bees that came up here from the south. These can be pretty bad too!

Charlie - you tried to socialize?! Excuse the gasping cough... sorry, again... We have yellow wasps here too. They like my daughter's play hut (which she no longer uses, but they seem to like).

Lanre - as a home inspector I meet up with bees all the time! I should be immune by now, but am not!

I ran into hornets summer before last outside a foreclosure out in the country. Didn't check their hairline, just ran like crazy but still got stung a couple of times. The worst was years ago driving my truck with the window down and my arm on the sill. A bee went right up my sleeve and into the shirt. I went crazy trying to get the bee out with a sad and painful end.

Fred - they are adolescent yet, hence still bald. They are very strong structures and attached with Gorilla Glue.

Rob - it's amazing that to avoid a bee sting, while driving a car, people would totally lose control and go off a cliff! Once I was in a tree and some bees attacked and my instinct was to jump out of the tree!

Jay this is beautiful I agree but not for me at all..... I have been out showing and here they come bammmmmm they got me good right on the eye lid neadless to say my face swelled up my clients got scared I called my husband to come and get me tooks some medicine called it a day and sold my clients a house later in the week. lol Thank you for the post talk to you soon

Posted by Laura Filip, What can we do for you today? (Laura Filip Broker , Opening doors for All Seasons of Life ) about 6 years ago

oooo, I hate these things. Been stung more often than I care to count. Stand waaaay away and shoot that wasp stuff at the nest. And then remove every trace of the nest over the winter. ugh ......

They are called White Faced Hornets in RI too. Having also been a Pest Control Contractor, I dealt with these frequently at the end of the summer. They can build a rather large nest in a short amount of time. The nests are usually 10' -12' off the ground, but can also be hidden in shrubs and trees. From experience, I can tell you thet the sting is quite painful and because their stingers are not barbed, thay can sting repeatedly! The worst nest I ever treated - I treated from within my car. I drove to within 12' of the nest, lowered my widow just enough to spray the nest from afar. It took a while, but it worked. The nest had 9 levels within it all loaded with eggs!

Posted by Hank Richter (HomePro Inspections of RI) about 6 years ago

I walked into a shed last summer. A rattlely tin thing with a stuck door. I had to bang the door around to get it open which greatly disturbed a hornets nest. Bam...got me good. Twice.

Posted by Joel Weihe, Helping you to use your VA home loan benefits (Realty World Alliance) about 6 years ago

I like that others don't need to see first hand. Jays photos are just fine for me. Very clear and sharp.

There are maps that say we don't have scorpions in Northern Nevada but they must have hitched a ride up from Vegas because there are some places they do show up. So you never know. I might see those black and white ones.